You’re probably familiar with Sarah Foil’s series where she posts five reasons why she was distracted from writing that week. I love how she points out that the only thing writers love more than writing is avoiding writing. Like Sarah, I am certainly no exception. So, when Sarah invited me to write a guest blog, I decided to share my five reasons for why I am writing during the pandemic. When stay-at-home directives were issued, I knew what I wanted to do: pick up a children’s middle-grade novel that I started in 2018 and finish it. Here’s who/what has kept me writing—literally every day—since the first weeks of March.
ROUTINE CANCELLATIONS
Like everyone else, my typical activities came to a swift stand-still with the pandemic. No more lunching with friends, no haircuts, no errands... but most of all, my school visits were cancelled. I spend much of my time soliciting, planning, scheduling and doing Author Visits at elementary schools. I regularly go out and speak to children about writing, publishing, creativity, and inspiration. When schools dismissed for online lessons at home, the many speaking engagements I had been hired to do were cancelled. I was sad, because it means a loss of income and book sales—not to mention the fact that I miss the children. But I decided to take advantage of the time at home and do something valuable: finish my novel.
A CURE FOR BRAIN COMA
Let’s face it, one can only avoid the Tiger King for so long. Right? I finally succumbed in the early days of the pandemic and binged-watched the 2020 American true crime documentary about the life of zookeeper Joe Exotic. I wasn’t alone, because 34.3 million other viewers watched with me over its first ten days, ranking it as one of Netflix’s most successful releases to date. But the truth is, I can only indulge in so much TV before I start to lose brain cells. Writing is my happy place, and I use it to drag myself away from watching The Bachelor or the Real Housewives of Wherever. Writing keeps me sharp and, I hope, makes me a more interesting human.
THE AMAZING LESLIE JORDAN (@thelesliejordan)
Do you follow this actor on Instagram? If not, you’re in for a treat. Leslie is best known for his role in the sitcom “Will & Grace” and various characters in “American Horror Story,” but these days he’s busy with his newfound insta-fame. He went from 80k pre-pandemic followers to a whopping 4.6 million. I guess we all need a little levity these days, and he certainly provides it with hilarious lines like: “Well hello, fellow hunker downers, welcome to day one million.” Watching his daily musings makes me smile, and then I feel ready to hit my keyboard with a few new chapters each day.
MY WRITING COACH
I’m a horrible procrastinator. No, wait, let me correct that: I’m an amazing procrastinator. I’ve mastered the art of putting my personal writing goals on the back burner. So, when I decided to finish my novel, I knew I needed help. I had heard about a program called Author Accelerator, which is the brainchild of founder Jennie Nash. A friend recommended that I work with them, and I’m so glad I did. Hiring my online coach, Jen Braaksma, has been invaluable. She holds me accountable with manageable deadlines and edits my pages in chunks as I go. As a result, I’m almost finished with a clean, already-vetted (and nearly-ready-to-query) manuscript that only took a few months of commitment.
HUBBY WAS WORKING, SO WHY NOT ME?
My husband is a physician, so, while many folks switched to Zoom meetings and Skype visits, he continued as usual. He’s not on the front lines—he’s a urologist, not an ER doc—but dons his N95 mask and goes to work every day. Seeing him get up and leave home for work inspires me to do the same. I want to do my part too. I want to have something tangible to show for my time trapped at home. So, every day, I write.
